Clear through security?
I tend to travel quite a bit, so Veronica got me thinking about enrolling in Clear, a “fast lane” for frequent fliers that supposedly lets the registered and approved breeze through airport security in mere minutes. The Clear security machines are only present at a few airports, and from what I can tell, you’re charged by the year and for a one-time TSA vetting fee (together $128); the DoHS gets a bunch of personal data about you, including a number of biometrics (iris scan, fingerprints, photograph).
If you’re approved for Clear, according to their site, you and your belongings still have to pass through the usual metal detectors and X-ray screenings; it seems like the only real bonus is that the Clear are shorter (usually non-existent), and there are attendants to assist Clear members with packing / unpacking their belongings for scanning. Of course, besides all the obvious privacy concerns, the vaguely creepy statement that Clear members are “continuously reviewed by the Department of Homeland Security” doesn’t leave me super excited. Clear maintains that its privacy policy is straightforward and progressive, though.
Maybe I naturally lean more to the tinfoil hat end of the spectrum, but is the trade-off of privacy really worth the claimed expediency? Any Clear members, what are your thoughts?
I'm an editor and technology critic in the midst of founding a new web startup: 
i looked into clear last year, ryan and i didn’t subscribe. the idea of paying someone $100 / year to spy on me with my permission didn’t make sense to my pea-sized brain. though i guess, hey, i pay AT&T $100 / month and they spy on me *without* my permission.
what bugged me even more was that in the TOU you give Clear permission to collect more data on you than the TSA / DHS actually requires of them, and permission to do anything with that data they like, including market to you.
when i pay people, i expect MORE privacy, not less. so i didn’t join. now i live in a place where there’s no clear at the airport anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
I used to have it when traveling from Glasgow/London to Amsterdam (Its called Privium Pass in Europe). I think its mostly targeted at people with no check in luggage. People with same day travel arrangements home….so people bringing nothing more than a laptop bag. In Europe we had our own scanner separate from the other security so the queues well WAY less esp in Shipnol Amsterdam Airport where the queues to get scanned could be up to 30 mins.
The thing i hated was the fact that the Iris scan wasn’t the most reliable…it took a few tries to get it to recognize. Not sure id be happy with the US government getting all that info though. Ever seen Minority Report?
Schneier points out that the only serious gain is that CLEAR travelers are experienced travelers http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/01/clear_registere.html
Alternative – look at bidding on “empty leg” private jet seats or time shares. From what I have read, if you are willing to put up with last minute flight time changes and the occasional lay over, they are just a little more than first class seats. The bonus? ZERO waiting in any line at all.
https://www.virgincharter.com/empty_leg/about
http://www.onesky.com/